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The 2010 World Cup

Usually Holland have these problems.... large egos and playing badly and blaming it all on the manager. Guus Hiddink with Edgar Davids...

The Dutch have laid very low this time, and have won without playing convincingly. Ideal. No huge expectations and not all that much pressure on the players. Our manager, Bert van Marwijk, is an all round intelligent and nice guy who has everyone's sympathy. Even the player's!

Perfect for building a team of very, very, talented and experienced players.

Maybe, for England, having a manager who is like Bert, but British, would be better: Make sure the team gets along and don't try to exaggerate the influence of the manager.
All the players are very fit, have bags of experience and know how to play. The manager is more of a "father figure", who knows how to keep the peace within a squad of huge egos.

IMHO Spain, Brazil and Argentina do this well. Yes, they have a manager... one of them a very eccentric manager... but they make sure the players do well. Nothing more. Of course Maradona is allowed to soak up all the attention.... that's gr8 for players like Messi...

No one is bigger than the team... not even the manager.
 
Interesting thoughts MacsRgr8. In the case of Brazil though, I might disagree - Dunga has been derided by the Brazilian press for foisting his counterattacking "Dunga football" style on the nation. He's really shown a strong hand at the controls in shaping the side in his own image. With that being said, they are still winning and their's been no France/England/Cameroon/Algeria-like unrest in the squad. Although Brazlians are treating the narrow win over North Korea as a defeat in all but name.

I find it difficult to blame Capello in this situation though. England needs look no farther than the 23 guys they sent to South Africa for the culprits. I think calls for a change in shape or a runout for Joe Cole are just a smokescreen to cover the fact that a team that played pretty well in qualifying is not playing well anymore, despite only having lost Ferdinand and not really changing much else. Against Algeria, England made a lot of basic errors that have nothing to do with the side's shape - did anyone play well for England in that match? The pundits were calling James' performance good but all he did was avoid committing any howlers. With that being said, Capello may have no choice but to change the side's shape in order to try and inject some life into the squad. Perhaps a bunch of starters should sit and let the subs try their luck.

I expect USA to do better than 0-0 against the Algerians. We are an inferior side to England, but are playing much, much closer to our potential than our elder cousins across the pond. I feel like we are more likely to concede to Algeria but also more likely to score....I'm looking for a narrow victory for USA, something like a 2-1.

At least the English can take solace in the knowledge that, however disastrous the World Cup may be for them, the French have surely bottled it worse. :D
 
I for one am delighted that John Terry has voiced his concerns. I'm sure this will now mean that the England team will rediscover their form and we will now march on to claim our deserved place as world champions. Hurrah for us. :rolleyes:

One of our problems is the mentality our players have developed of shying away from accepting responsibility – as a team and as individuals – for their poor performances. A number of them need to learn to shut up, grow up and take a long, hard, honest look at themselves.

I think that there are some quite disruptive, dislikeable personalities in that dressing room, Terry is just the most vocal of them, and too many players seem happy to blame everyone but themselves for their shortcomings. John Terry is mouthing off about Capello's team selections. Wayne Rooney doesn't like supporters getting on the team's back after a stinker of a performance. Steven Gerrard ignores the team's formation and plays down the middle when he's supposed to be out on the left – not his preferred position I grant you, but the position where he's been told to play. Meanwhile, David James sticks his bottom lip out like a sulking child when the press ask about his manager.

Not knowing you're playing until a few hours before kick off doesn't suddenly deprive you of the ability to string more than a couple of passes together, it doesn't suddenly strip you of the skill or ability that many members of the England squad possess. I hope that – in these 'clear the air talks' – Capello has reminded his players of this.

It seems that many members of the current squad are very certain of where their manager is going wrong. I wonder how many of these wise old heads will go on to have managerial careers which will rival his? Not too many, I would wager.
 
I agree on all points Jaffa. Perhaps the last couple England managers took too much blame and the players didn't get enough? Rooney and Gerrard in particular appear to be guilty of disrupting the shape of the side.

Maybe the fact that most of the England players are probably in their final World Cup has had an effect on their discipline.
 
If I were Capello I'd be thinking of it this way. If I don't bench Terry the players will never respect me again, and I'll probably be axed. If I don't advance to the second round, I'll be axed for sure. Seems to me that if they advance as far as the quarters, then people will get over the Terry issue. (And there's a decent chance that Terry won't be playing in another major tournament anyway.) So a major improvement in form is more crucial than what Terry or anyone else thinks.


Lord Blackadder said:
Maybe the fact that most of the England players are probably in their final World Cup has had an effect on their discipline.
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That makes this WC especially important though, doesn't it? Since they can expect more turnover before the next WC than they've experienced in a long time, it may be much harder to qualify for Brazil 2014.

Then again, applying logic to English side is like banging your head against the wall, isn't it?
 
I'm French, and i'm officially looking for a new national team to cheer for. Also thinking about changing nationality.

More seriously, I hope South Africa beat the hell out of this crap team so this nightmare will finally be over, and that Laurent Blanc arrival will change everything.
 
Good points Jaffa. Maybe they need a manager who is a bigger and more well-known personality than these bigheads are themselves, like a Venables or a Mourinho even a Hiddink.

Like Roy Kean under Ferguson at ManU was a good boy who always did what he was told, played where he was told to play, but under a less strong national manager suddenly thinks he knows better and even throws tantrums. Not even the manager, even just a boss who's bigger, like the Russian gangster who owns Chelsea who Terry bows and scrapes to.


jayla said:
I'm French, and i'm officially looking for a new national team to cheer for. Also thinking about changing nationality.

More seriously, I hope South Africa beat the hell out of this crap team so this nightmare will finally be over, and that Laurent Blanc arrival will change everything.
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I recall in 2006 it was a similar situation of looking like a bleak repeat of 2002 for France when they couldn't win their first two games against Switzerland and Korea, but ended up reaching the Final. These players are good enough to lift themselves and start playing as a decent team when they have to, but will they repeat 2006 this time.. or will it be a repeat of 2002 instead.. ? We'll know soon enough!

Anelka gone just means Henry could start now instead. How many other teams in the WC right now would take Henry as a starting striker any day, even in his old age? Most of them I reckon.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
The pundits were calling James' performance good but all he did was avoid committing any howlers.
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I'd say the pundits underated his performance then! :p

As for Terry, well, I'm not so sure where I stand to be honest. While what he did makes us look more like the French, do the other players agree with him or not? Were they happy to back him up, up until the point it all hit the fan, and then they simply shied away, just like their on field meek performances?

As for the Joe Cole debate, I think England deperately need some flair and creativity and he is someone that can deliver that, yet he can't even buy a game. I also think that Gerrard should support Rooney through the middle, just like he does for Torres at Liverpool and Rooney's been supported similarly at Man U this season, and he hasn't had a quiet one.

So, is Capello simply unflexible and has lost the respect of the players, or are the players simply overpaid showman who want more control? Either way, no matter whether they play in their 'preferred' position or not, as Jaffa basically said, they still shouldn't have forgotten how to actually play football!! :mad:
 
The England team I'd like to see: (J Cole coming on with 30 mins to go)

...................James
Johnson Dawson Terry A. Cole
Lennon Barry Lampard Milner
...............Gerrard
.......................Rooney

The team I expect to see:

....................James
Johnson Upson Terry A. Cole
Lennon Barry Lampard Gerrard
.............Rooney Defoe.
 
I would probably compose the England team as follows:

James
Johnson Upson|Dawson Terry A.Cole
Barry
Lennon|SWP Lampard Gerrard J.Cole
Crouch

Get some crosses from the right (winger and/or back) for Crouch and Gerrard with Cole on the far post and Lampard waiting for returns on 20 yards.

Get some unexpected action from the left with the Coles with Crouch and Gerrard tying up people in the middle.

Gerrard and Lampard coming on runs through the middle if Crouch drags one (or both central defenders) out of position.

Now that's a plan... ;)

If Shrek Rooney should find his form, I'd have him on top in stead of Crouch, but Rooney looks awful at the moment. Maybe some rest would do him good...?
 
Mitthrawnuruodo said:
Snip
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That's pretty much how I'd do it, although I simply can't imagine Rooney not playing, yes he's had 2 poor (terrible?) matches, but he's always going to be the first choice striker.

Banging it long to Crouch is our 'plan B'

Personally I'd go with Milner rather than J. Cole to start, simply because I think he'd tuck in and be a bit more defensively minded, allowing Lampard, Gerrard AND Ashely Cole to get forward. 60/70 minutes into the match, J. Cole comes on when the opposition are a bit tired.

Still, saying all that, it'll probably be 1-1 :rolleyes:
 
awmazz said:
Anelka gone just means Henry could start now instead. How many other teams in the WC right now would take Henry as a starting striker any day, even in his old age? Most of them I reckon.
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I was wrong. Looks like Cisse up front solo. 6 players dropped - Evra, Malouda, Govou and Abidal are all out of the starting line-up as well. Diarra is the new captain.

Edit - Gallas appears to have survived the night of the long knives.

My first prediction - France 4-0 South Africa :D
 
Half Time:
South Africa 2-0 France
Uruguay 1-0 Mexico

Interesting second half looming. South Africa are half way to the 4 goal swing they needed to qualify.
 
Rooney: one decent performance hampered by lack of service - good shot and created two gilt-edged chances, only for Lennon and SWP to choke - and one very poor game. Start him but have the balls to sub him if he's not playing well.

Can the ten men of France come back?:rolleyes: Edit - possibly, 2 -1 now. Edit Edit - no.

Cheers,
OW
 
I find soccer to be pretty boring, but hopefully the people who actually attend the world cup in person find it to be worthwhile, because some of them will end up getting health issues from those disease spreading and obnoxiously loud vuvuzelas or whatever the hell they're called.

Those things go to over 130db! If somebody was behind me with one of those vuvuzelas, spreading their spit and permanently damaging my ears, I'd probably turn right around and tear that person's head off. It's a good thing that I don't like soccer and I'm not in South Africa in that stadium.
 
By Silencio, "...Torres couldn't finish to save his life (maybe like Sansom he derived his scoring powers from his delicate bleached locks)..."

Here's a picture of Sansom during his brunette phase:

Cheers,
OW
 

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